Leveling device for hoppers, etc.



June 28, 1932. B. NOBLE LEVELING DEVICE FOR HOPPE RS,

ETC

Filed Feb. 12, 1930 I N V EN TOR. 5597 N054:

@ W/MAM/ A TTORNEY Patented June 28, 1932 o STATES PATENT OFFICE j BERT NOBLE, OF SAN DIEGO, CALIFORNIA, ASSIGNOR TO ROAD-S CONSTRUCTION COM- PANY, LTD, F LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, A CORPORATION OF CALIFORNIA LEVELING DEVICE FOR HOPPEBS, ETC.

Application filed February 12,1930. Serial No. 427,769. 7

pulley 8, cable 9, idler pulley 10, shaft 11,

My invention relates to leveling means for hoppers or the like, and the objects of my invention are:

First, to provide a leveling means which is especially adapted for elongated hoppers as used with road paving machines;

Second, to provide a leveling means of this class which spreads the contents'of a hopper evenly throughout the length thereof;

Third, to provide a leveling means of this class which enables a hopper or trough to be filled or loaded at any portion of its length, yet insures even discharge of the material from said hopper;

Fourth, to provide a leveling means which may be readily located in an out of the way position on the hopper so as to avoid interference with the filling thereof; and

Fifth, to provide on the whole a novelly constructed leveling means for hoppers which is efficient in its action, compact, durable, and which will not readily deteriorate or get out of order.

With these and other objects in view as will appear hereinafter, my invention consists of certain novel features of construction, combination and arrangement of parts and portions as will be hereinafter described in detail and particularly set forth in the appended claims, reference being had tothe accompanying drawing and to the characters of reference thereon, which form a part of this application, in which Figure 1 is a plan view of a hopper used in connection with a road making machine and my device shown in its operating relation therewith;

Fig. 2 is an enlarged fragmentary transverse sectional view through 22 of Fig. 1;

Fig.3 is a fragmentary enlarged sectional view through 3-3 of Fig. 2, with parts and portions shown in elevation; and 1 i Fig. 4 is a fragmentary transverse sectional view through 44 of Fig. 1.

Similar characters of reference refer to similar parts and portions throughout the -several views of the drawingf Track members 1, carriage frame 2, supporting rollers 3, guide rollers 4, paddle members 5, brace'mem'b'ers ,6, motor 7 drive of my leveling means for hoppers.

bracket bearings 12, motor reversing rod 13, bearings 14, and shifting arms 15 and 1 6, constitute the principal parts and portions I In road making machines the height of the hopper containing the paving material must be relatively low in order'to receive the material from trucks or the like. Furthermore, these hoppers deposit the paving material from side to side of the road; consequently, the hoppers are made quite long for their height and width. As shown in Fig. 1, the hopper A is mounted betweenside frames B vof the road pavingmachine. The material is dumped into the hopper at the sloping'or forward side thereof. Adjacent the rear side of the hopper across the top thereof is mounted a pair of parallel disposedv tracks 1 which may be in the form of a channel iron mounted with their bases in a vertical plane, and with their open sides facing each other, as shown best'i'n Figs. 2 and 4. I

A substantially rectangular carriage frame 2 is provided having bearing portions at near its corners in which journal the shafts 3a of the rollers'3. The rollers 3 are adapted ..to ride on the lower flanges of the track members, as shown in Fig. 2 and support the carriage frame 2 therebetween.

The end members 2?) of thecarriage frame are provided with bracket portions 20 which extend outwardly from the frame and slightly towards the side members 1. The ends of these brackets, four in all, are provided with guide rollers ,4, which engage the vertical portions of the track members 1. Centrally positioned relative to the carriage frame 2 and depending therefrom is a paddle member 5, which may be in the form of a vertically disposed substantially rectangular. flat plate, as shown best in Figs. 2 and 3.-

The paddle member extends down into the hopper A and forwardly of the carriage into the receiving portion of the hopper so as to scrape across the upper portion of the paving material P and shift the'higher or piled up portion from the center to the ends .of'th'e hopper. I

other so as to be secured at their lower portions to the paddle member 5.

Mounted at the one end of the track members l is a motor 7 adapted to be driven by any available source of power such as electricity, steam, or compressed air, or may be a self-containedinternal combustion engine;

The drive shaft of the motor 7 is provided with a drive pulley 8 mounted in centered relation between the track members 1. A cable 9 passes around the pulley and extends longitudinally with the track members 1 to the other end thereof where it passes around an idler pulley 10 mounted on a shaft 11 supported by bracket bearings 12 which in turn are mounted on the top of the track members 1, as shown in Fig. 4. The ends of the cable are secured to opposite ends of the carriage frame 2, as shown best in Fig. 3.

The motor 7 is provided with a reversing mechanism 7a having a piston handle 7 7) extending therefrom. Secured to this handle is a reversing rod 13 which extends in parallel disposed relation to and above one of the track members 1, and is slidably supported at various points therealong by bearings 14 which are secured to the track member, as shown in Figs. 1 and 4.

The rod is so connected to the shifting mechanism of this motor that axial movement in one direction causes the drive pulley to operate in one direction, While opposite axial movement causes opposite rotation of the pulley.

Adjacent the motor, the reversing rod 13 is provided with a shifting arm 15 secured to the rod and extends therefrom towards the lengthof cable joining the carriage frame, in this case the lower side of the cable. The

extended end of the shifting arm 15 is provided with a sleeve 15a which fits loosely around the cable.

. Secured to the extended end of the reversing rod13 is a second shifting arm 16 similar to the arm 15, and provided with a sleeve portion 16a which surrounds the cable 9 as shown in Fig. 4. When the carriage almost reaches the end of its travel in one direction, it engages the shifting arm 15, moving the rod 13.. I As the carriage frame completes its stroke it causes the reversing mechanism to reverse the pulley, whereby the carriage starts on its return trip. On reaching the other endthe shifting arm 16 is engaged which moves the rod 13 back to its first position, and again reverses the motor. Thus the carriage is causedtooscillate from one end .to. the other of the hopper.

Thong-h vI have shown and described a particular construction, combination and arrangement of parts and portions, I do not wish to be limited to this particular construction, combination and arrangement, but desire to include in the scope of my invention the construction, combination and arrangement substantially as set forth in the appended claims.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1, In a leveling means for hoppers, the combination with a hopper of a track means extending along the one side only opposite the receiving side thereof, a carriage arranged to travel on said track means, and means extending from said carriage and laterally from said track means into said hopper, whereby material in said hopper sidewise of said tracks may be shifted with the movement of said carriage.

2. In a leveling means for hoppers, the combination with a hopper of a track means extending along the one side only opposite the receiving side thereof, a carriage arranged to travel on said track means, means extending from said carriage into said hopper, whereby material surface in said hopper may be shifted with the movement of said carriage, a driving mechanism for said carriage mounted on said hopper, and reversing mechanism for said driving mechanism engageable by said carriage at the end of its travel, whereby the movement of the driving mechanism and said carriage is reversed.

3. In a leveling means for hoppers, the combination with an elongated trough-like hopper, of a track extending the length of said hopper along one side only thereof clear of the receiving portion thereof, a carriage arranged to travel along said track from end to end of said hopper, and supported wholly by said track, and a paddle means extending laterally from said carriage into said hopper, whereby material in said hopper may be shifted with said carriage.

4:. In a leveling means for hoppers, the combination with an elongated trough-like hopper, of a track extending the length of said hopper along one side only thereof clear of the receiving portion thereof, a carriage arranged to travel along said track from end to end of said hopper, and supported wholly by said track, a paddle means extending from said carriage into said hopper and extending laterally therefrom, whereby material in said hopper may be shifted with said carriage, a

driving means for said carriage mounted in said hopper, and reversing mechanism for said driving means, engageable by said carriage at the endof its travel, whereby move ment of the driving means and said carriage is reversed.

5. In a leveling means for hoppers, the combination with an elongated trough-like hopper, of a track extending the length of said hopper along one side only thereof clear of the receiving portion thereof, a carriage arranged to travel along said track from end to end of said hopper and supported Wholly by said track, a paddle means extending from said carriage into said hopper and extending laterally therefrom, whereby material in said 7 hopper may be shifted with said carriage, a driving means for said carriage mounted at the one end of said hopper, a pulley and cable means connecting said drive means with said carriage, and a reversing mechanism for said driving means engageable by said carriage at the end of its travel, whereby movement of the driving mechanism and said carriage is reversed. v

6. In a leveling means for hoppers, the combination with an elongated trough-like hopper of a track extending the length of said hopper along one side only thereof clear of the receiving portions thereof, a carriage arranged to travel along said tracks and into said hopper and supported wholly by said track, and paddle means supported by said carriage and extending in offset relation with said track and carriage means into the receiving portion of said hopper.

7. In a leveling means for hoppers, the combination with an elongated trough-like hopper of a track extending the length of said hopper along one side only thereof clear of the receiving portions thereof, a carriage arranged to travel along said tracks and into said hopper and supported wholly by said track, paddle means supported by said carriage and extending in ofl'set relation with said track and carriage means into the receiving portion of said hopper, a driving mechanism for said carriage mounted on said hopper, and reversing mechanism for said driving mechanism engageable by said carriage at the end of its travel, whereby the movement of the driving mechanism and said carriage is reversed.

8. In a leveling means for hoppers, the combination with an elongated trough-like hopper of a track extending the length of said hopper clear of the receiving portions thereof, a carriage arranged to travel along said tracks and into said hopper, and paddle means supported by said carriage and extending in offset relation with said track and carriage means into the receiving portion of said hopper, said carriage including guide rollers on both vertical and horizontal axes engageable with vertical and horizontal portions of said track for preventing shifting of said carriage relative to said tracks caused by the action of said paddle upon material in said hopper.

9. In a leveling means for hoppers, tracks, consisting of channel members with the channel sides facing each other, a carriage positioned between said tracks provided with wheels on horizontal axes positioned between the horizontal members of said channel members, and a paddle means supported by said carriage and extending in offset relation with said tracks and carriage.

10. In a leveling means for hoppers, tracks, consisting of channel members with the channel sides facing each other, a carriage positioned between said tracks provided with wheels on horizontal axes positioned between the horizontal membersof said channel members, said carriage also provided with wheels on vertical axes engageable with the vertical portions of said channel members, and a paddle means supported by said carriage and extending in oifset relation with said tracks and carriage. c

11. In a leveling means for hoppers, tracks, consisting of channel members with the channel sides facing each other, a carriage positioned between said tracks provided with wheels on horizontal axes positioned between the horizontal members of said channel members, saidcarriage also provided with wheels on vertical axes engageable with the vertical portions of said channel members, and a paddle means supported by said carriage and extending in offset relation with said tracks and carriage, a driving mechanism for said carriage mounted on said hopper and reversing mechanism for said driving mechanism engageable by said carriage at the end of its travel whereby the movement of the driving mechanismand said carriage is reversed.

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my hand at San Diego, California this 3d day of February 1930.

BERT NOBLE. 

